Sennheiser HD 4.40BT review: Best headphones for Rs 10,000

The reason why the Sennheiser HD 4.40 BT is so good is because of its
sound quality. The feature set too is good and the build quality and
comfort is decent, but it is the sound where these headphones score big
even if you are listening to music using Bluetooth.

Sennheiser is a well-known brand among the audiophiles. But even as it has found success among those who like their music clear and precise, it has not seen the similar kind of brand recognition among the casual and mainstream users. The mainstream consumers looking to drop Rs 15,000 on a headphone still swear by Bose, Beats or Sony. Sennheiser is now hoping to change that by reaching out to people who mostly listen to music on their phones and laptops with a new set of headphones. These headphones are easy to drive - and hence work well with smartphones - and have a design that is more regular and portable.

Several days ago I reviewed the HD 2.30. It was a decent headphone but also rather overpriced with a tag of around Rs 6,000. In other words, that headphone wasn't something that I recommended. Today, I am reviewing the Sennheiser HD 4.40 BT, that has a price of around 10,000 -Rs 10,990 to be precise. This one not only sounds fabulous but is actually a one good value for money. It is the best headphone you can buy if you are spending around Rs 10,000. In other words, this is totally recommended.

The Sennheiser HD 4.40 BT has some minor flaws - details in the article - but overall its feature set and the sound - ah, the sound it produces - ensures that you are going to fall in love with it. I did after using it for around 2 weeks.

Music to ears

There is a reason why audiophiles revere Sennheiser so much but the more mainstream audience, the kind of people who buy headphones to mostly enjoy the latest pop songs of the day in the office, prefer Bose, Sony or something similar. The classic Sennheiser sound is too perfect. It is classic, with strong emphasis on the mids. And even as audiophiles love the subtlety in this sound, more regular listeners miss the warmth, the bass, the colour that some other headphones provide. The HD 4.40 BT changes that. Big time. It is a headset that mixes the clean and timeless Sennheiser mids with punchy - and yet never overdone - bass. And in between it throws in gorgeous soundstage, which is a revelation on this headphone considering these are closed back.

Irrespective of what you play on the Sennheiser HD 4.40 BT, it sounds fun. It sounds like music to ears.

Let me simplify it all. The reason why the Sennheiser HD 4.40 BT is so good is because of its sound quality. The feature set too is good and the build quality and comfort is decent, but it is the sound where these headphones score big even if you are listening to music using Bluetooth. This headphone sounds as good as the ones that cost more than twice of its price. As noted earlier, mids are great on this headphone. So vocals sound fantastic. When you play a Bollywood song, you can hear the voice of Atif Aslam or Arijit Singh in its full glory. And what works for peppy Bollywood songs works for the country music or the pop of the day. Listening to Ed Sheeran's Shape of You is total blast on these headphones and so is hearing the throaty voice of a country singer like Josh Turner.

The fantastic mids are also helped by extremely clear trebles and the boomy lows that the Sennheiser HD 4.40BT can produce. And this helps the headphone deal with other genres with equal aplomb. Hip hop and the EDM both have the kind of colour that I find a pleasant surprise given that this is a Sennheiser headphone I am testing. The bass in songs like Boten Anna - the song is by a band that literally calls itself Basshunter - or in songs like 8 Mile from Eminem is good enough to make your ears feel the boom. At the same time, it is never overpowering, the way it is in some other headphones out there. Despite the dollop of bass, the mids remain crystal clear. You can still hear Eminen quick fire words at supersonic speed, as he says it, and you can still hear the train blowing its horn in the background in 8 Mile.

Talking of train in the background, that is another highlight of the Sennheiser HD 4.40BT. This is one of the best closed headphones I have heard as far as the soundstage is concerned.

The soundstage is that feel of sound moving around your ears. It is the feel that the sound is coming from someplace far, the way it has been recorded. Not many headphones can offer good soundstage and very few of these are the closed-back headphones, which have their ear cups sealed and not have any holes in them. But the HD 4.40BT surprisingly produces good soundstage.

This soundstage enables this Sennheiser to deal with classical music in a way that very few headphones in this price range can do. The Bartered Bride Overture, with its spirited orchestra, sounds glorious on the Sennheiser HD 4.40 HD. And so does the Barber of Seville Overture. Given the fact that the HD 4.40HD has overall good performance with highs, mids and lows, it also manages to deal with the rock and metal with same panache. Play Smoke On The Water or Enter Sandman and these headphones not only produce deep bass but also faithfully reconstruct the infectious guitar riffs in a way that is going to mesmerise any listener.

The best bit is that the good performance is there even when you are using it with Bluetooth and a smartphone. Although, you don't have to because the HD 4.40BT comes with a cord and sounds better if you use it as a wired headphone. And if you really want to get into the audiophile sound quality, you can pair it headphone with an AMP. Even the basic AMP will do. For some listening sessions I paired the HD 4.40BT with a desktop computer that has a basic Asus Xonar DG sound card with inbuilt AMP. The performance of these headphones when paired with the AMP is in a different league, and much better than even headphones like the Audio Technica M50, which has been a fan favourite as the entry-level audiophile headphone for over a decade.

Flaws but don't mind them

Of course, no gadget is perfect. And the HD 4.40BT too are not. But even in areas other than the soundstage and sound quality, it does well. The battery life when you are using it with Bluetooth is good enough to make the headphones last 2 to 3 days depending on how much you are using them. So no complaints there. The build material and comfort, however, could have been better.

The Sennheiser HD 4.40BT are all-plastic headphones. And while the build quality is top notch and the plastic ensures that the weight of the headphones is low, I would have liked to see at least a metal headband here considering the price at which Sennheiser is selling them. The foam used is of top quality, in both the headband and the earcups, which have rather thick leatherette cover. But the ear cups are on the smaller side. People with smaller ears will find these headphones around the ear, and more comfortable, but many more consumers may find them over the ear. Depending on how these headphones fit you, you may find them comfortable enough or somewhat overbearing after an hour of use or so.

Most users, I have a feeling will find these comfortable, but not plush. Also, the leatherette means in warmer climates - Indian cities, for example - you will have sweat around your ears if you are sitting in a non-AC room with these headphones.

One good thing, however, is that the Sennheiser HD 4.40BT offers portability. You can fold these headphones to make them extremely compact. When folded they will fit in a large pocket in a jacket, or more practically, in a handbag or a messenger bag. That makes it very convenient to carry them around while travelling.

If you want your music to sound sweet, get them

At a price of Rs 10,990 - market price could be lower - the Sennheiser HD 4.40BT are not cheap. But then good headphones never are. The sound that these cans offer actually make them a bargain. It is the kind of sound that many Rs 20,000 and Rs 30,000 headphones can't produce. With no song or piece of music the Sennheiser HD 4.40BT sounds bad. And that is when you play something that doesn't go well with the signature sound of these headphones. When you pair it with something that appeals to the way it handles mid, highs and lows, you get absolutely orgasmic music in your ears, especially if you have also connected it to an AMP.

Another thing that these headphones lack is active sound cancellation. The passive sound cancelling by the virtue of its design is pretty good. You can't hear office chatter while listening to music. And you probably wouldn't need the active voice cancellation, especially not in office or home. Although if you are going to use the headphones during flights, you should take a look at the HD 4.50BTNC, which is essentially the HD 4.40BT with noise cancellation added to it.

HD 4.40 BT Review8.5/10

Good stuff

Great sound quality

Good bass and soundstage

Compact and mostly comfortable

Bad stuff

All-plastic body

Earcups can be small for some

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